Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 1159 Are you worthy?

By the time Joao I sent someone to inform him to see him and was taken aboard by the soldiers on the treasure ship, Zhu Su had already changed out of his casual clothes and put on a luxurious dragon robe, sitting upright on a huanghuali carved dragon chair. Behind him, two tall and strong eunuchs, Gou'er and Sanbao, stood solemnly on both sides, one holding a talisman and the other holding a sword, looking majestic and murderous. Li Jinglong, Tie Xuan and other generals also put on formal robes, standing upright one by one, with serious expressions, showing their power without anger.

When Joao arrived at the door with his close ministers and guards, these noble gentlemen from the West were immediately shocked by the scene: Even though they had taken out their most luxurious and respectable clothes to express their awe of the Ming Dynasty and to demonstrate their status and dignity, how could they compare to the prosperous Chinese Dynasty at that time? Their most respectable clothes were not even as noble as the embroidery stitches on the lapels of the eunuchs serving Zhu Su, let alone compared with Zhu Su and Li Jinglong.

John I's face turned pale, while Zhu Su secretly laughed in his heart. Compared with pretending to be Boyi, there is probably no country in the world that can compare with the powerful Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Su had guessed what King Joao I was thinking since he saw him wearing a flashy outfit through the telescope. He just wanted to take the initiative in the negotiation and gain a slight advantage in external momentum.

Although this was probably just a small struggle, Zhu Su still did not want to satisfy John I.

"Little King... Joao... pays homage to the Great Ming... King Zhou... His Highness!" Joao I clasped his hands together and spoke incoherently. Although it was awkward, what he said was actually the official language of the Great Ming Dynasty that was barely understandable.

The gesture of bowing hands also came from the Ming Dynasty.

You know, when he was captured last time, he seemed to have no idea about the Ming language. Obviously, these were new things he had learned in the past few days.

Zhu Su suddenly realized that Joao's original plan was to make a slight advance so that his side would not be underestimated, and then use the official language and etiquette of the Ming Dynasty to show his sincerity. This Western emperor who left a name in later generations was indeed scheming.

Foreigners say that the "Mud Howl" skill is used to take advantage of the Chinese. Could it be that it is in their genes?
Zhu Su remained calm, and just raised his hand to support him: "Your Majesty, there is no need to be so polite."

"Sit down, everyone. Come, bring some chairs so that these distinguished guests can sit down and talk."

Someone immediately responded to the order and soon brought in a few chairs and placed them in front of the seated Ming army officers. In this way, although Joao and others were sitting in the front row, in reality, they were surrounded by Ming army officers from all sides. The wolf-like and tiger-like gazes from all directions immediately made these Portuguese people feel uneasy.

"Your Majesty, you must have made up your mind when you came here. Are you willing to become a vassal of the Ming Dynasty?" Zhu Su asked straight to the point.

João wiped the sweat from his face, tried to cheer himself up and listened to the interpreter's translation: his two official sentences were just last-minute reminders after all, and when it came to real communication, he still had to rely on the interpreter.

"Even though our country is far away from the Ming Dynasty, we can still know about its splendor and power. Even if we cannot, just based on your bravery and wisdom, Your Highness Prince Zhou, we can see what a great country the Ming Dynasty is." João first flattered the Ming Dynasty and Zhu Su.

"but…"

"Your Majesty, your Great Ming is against our church. You should know that in Europe, almost all the nations and peoples are believers of the Lord."

"We in Portugal are no exception..." João and the nobles who came with him looked pious and made the sign of the cross on their chests.

"I will not betray the Lord. I am ready to give everything to bath in the glory of the Lord," said Joao.

"Haha." The smile on Zhu Su's face became even more intense.

Joao was implicitly reminding Zhu Su that this was, after all, their Western territory, God's territory. As the enemy of the church, their fleet belonging to the Ming Dynasty was the common enemy of all European countries.

On the surface, they said that the Ming Dynasty was far away from home and could not match the influence of the church. If Portugal became a vassal of the Ming Dynasty, the people of other countries and even their own countries would not be willing.

Secretly, they were actually using the power of the church and all European countries to threaten Zhu Su: If you dare to do anything wrong here, everyone will fight him to the death!

"Since the king has made up his mind, why come here?" Zhu Su said with a faint smile. All around, Gou'er Li Jinglong and other generals had unfriendly faces, and the overwhelming murderous intent was unconcealed and pressed towards Joao and others.

All of a sudden, the Portuguese nobles were trembling with fear, sweating profusely, and couldn't even sit still. Even the king's guards at the door did not dare to move at all because of the malicious stares from the many fierce Ming soldiers on the deck.

Joao's face was pale, but he managed to cheer himself up. He forced a smile and said, "I... Xiao Wang heard that Ming is a civilized country and a kind country."

"Although we cannot become a vassal of the Ming Dynasty, Portugal is willing to establish an equal and solid friendship with the Ming Dynasty first and become the first Western country to establish friendship with the Ming Dynasty. As long as the Ming Dynasty is willing to express goodwill, we will also explain to the church on behalf of the Ming Dynasty and..."

"...Do you still want us, the Ming Dynasty, to trade with you, or even share the profits from the Fengmingzhou shipping route and the gold mines with you, or even let you use the Ming Dynasty as a tiger skin so that you can use the Ming Dynasty's reputation to make profits in Europe?" Zhu Su said with a smile.

"Your Highness Prince Zhou, we..." Having his thoughts exposed, João could no longer remain calm, but he still subconsciously wanted to explain.

"No need to say more." Zhu Su stood up and waved to Gou'er who was holding the sword. Gou'er understood and presented the sword to Zhu Su with both hands. Zhu Su drew the sword, and a pool of autumn water was reflected on Joao's face in an instant, and the temperature of the entire cabin seemed to drop by a few degrees.

"You want to be on equal terms with my Great Ming? Oh, do you know what kind of backgrounds those who can be compared with my Chinese dynasty throughout history have?"

"It's either the Great Qin or the Xiongnu. The Great Qin, you call it Rome, used to exchange envoys with the Han Dynasty of China and had spiritual exchanges with each other."

"The Xiongnu, who dominated the northern lands and commanded millions of troops, were a threat to China for a time. However, they were eventually destroyed by China, and their remnants can still be called the Whip of God in your mouths!"

"Recently, Mongolia and Timurid Empire, although they were powerful for a time and could be compared with China, they were ultimately just morning dew, unlike China, which is as bright as the sun and moon."

"Even some rebellious countries, like Korea and Japan in the past, which have caused chaos in a corner of China, must have at least 100,000 soldiers in their country. In this case, they must know that they are just clowns stirring up trouble and dare not claim to be on par with China."

"Your country, Portugal, has only 100,000 soldiers and your territory is less than a province. We are but a drop in the ocean to the Ming Dynasty. We can capture your king in one battle."

"If we had not inherited the rule of the Chinese king, we would have let you go out of mercy, and if we had not thought that the heavens were merciful, we would not have violated your borders and would have given you the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of the Ming Dynasty."

"How can you be so lucky as to sit here and talk nonsense?"

"You are worthy of being on equal terms with my Great Ming?"

(End of this chapter)